Much ado about nothing? (updated, repeatedly)

Yahoo Sports' Greg Wyshynski declares that Red Wings fans have reacted to the suspensions of Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk by attempting to repeatedly, "[W]aste their breath and tire out their fingers with rants of indignation, treating this incident as part of some grand conspiracy filled with anti-octopus twirling, Tomas Holmstrom's crease-crashing and all-star voter fraud," declaring in his post's title, "Marketing the NHL is more important than one Red Wings game."

January 26, Yahoo Sports: No one was asking for Datsyuk to take part in a skills competition, or Lidstrom to skate the morning practice. All they had to do was show up and promote the game, like Sidney Crosby and every "healthy" player did. Treating that responsibility as an option rather than an obligatory part of the job is far more damaging to the game's integrity than two points won or lost for the Red Wings. It's the kind of passive commitment that has, for years, hindered the League's marketing aims.

Wyshynski freely admits that the Toronto Star's Damien Cox had it right in declaring that the NHL's making an example out of the Red Wings, but he has no problem with that concept:

Was the NHL without fault here? Hell no. There is a double-standard at play when a guy like Steve Mason of the Blue Jackets can skirt his spokes-model duties because of injury without recourse, simply because he's in the skills competition instead of the main event. The notion that the Red Wings won't be able to replace these players because they're not officially suspended, as The Chief pointed out, is almost like punishment on top of punishment. And Lidstrom and Datsyuk aren't exactly Sean Avery; you could argue that the suspensions are harsh, and I'd listen.

But it still doesn't excuse their actions.

Let's revisit Paul Kelly's words from earlier this month: "We need to get our guys, their faces, their images, out there in the United States in ways we haven't done so previously."

Previously, players could duck out of their all-star game responsibilities for a myriad of reasons that didn't involve a wheelchair, a hospital bed or post-concussion syndrome. As any of those players will likely tell you in the wake of these suspensions: not any more.

Arguing this point and attempting to convince Wings fans otherwise is like trying to tell Anaheim Ducks fans that I'm not a total jerk after my exchange with Adam Brady (which was probably one of my worse moments of idiocy as a blogger). It's not going to happen.

Nobody knew that this was a rule until, sometime around noon on Friday, this obscure "understanding" became a "reality" at the Red Wings' expense. Every indication suggests that Ken Holland, who's one of the more plugged-in GM's in hockey, didn't know that this "understanding" was now a "rule," and even Sidney Crosby was taken aback when Bettman informed him of his change of that cold, black little heart.

Tossing the PA into this mess and suggesting that the PA's selling out the "growing of the game" by sticking up for Datsyuk and Lidstrom doesn't work for me, either, but that's a different argument for a different day. The Wings have already flown to Columbus after a sparsely-attended practice. Lidstrom and Datsyuk won't play, and while MLive.com's own Ansar Khan reports that Johan Franzen will play tomorrow, Brad Stuart and an 18-skater roster remain questionable at best.

It's happened, the Wings can't appeal, and whether the non-Red Wing slate of bloggers and members of the media believe that Red Wing Nation is making a big deal out of nothing, and continue to espouse the line now perfected (for the second time today) by Eric Duhatschek, this time in discussing the "second half" of the season...

January 26, Globe and Mail: The Red Wings, whether they'd admit or not, catch something of a break from Bettman's decision to force defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom and forward Pavel Datsyuk to the sideline for Tuesday's return to action against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Both skipped the all-star game with minor injuries and both were ordered by the commissioner to skip the trip to Columbus as punishment.

Lidstrom, 38, and not quite having a season up to his usual standard, can use the breather.

Babcock is playing him an average of 24 minutes 43 seconds a night -- high by most players' standards, but exactly two minutes less than he played last year and well off the 27:29 he averaged two years ago. Babcock wants Lidstrom fresh for the playoffs, so one more night off is not necessarily a bad thing.

I can't help but see that as an insult because I am anything but objective here. When I head into the Red Wings' locker room, and I'll do so sooner than later, I'm still going to be biased, because professionalism doesn't mean that I'm going to stop rooting for the Wings. I'm a Red Wings fan.

If you're not a Red Wings fan, you probably think that the suspensions are, arguably, a good thing, and you probably agree with Wyshynski in suggesting that the end of All-Star truancy is the real point, and you probably agree with Duhatschek that Red Wings fans don't understand that giving the injured Lidstrom a full nine-day break between games is probably good for your elbow.

We're not going to come to an agreement here, just as Lidstrom and Datsyuk aren't going to play tomorrow night. Those two points aren't debatable. For Red Wings fans, this is personal, and that's just the way it is.

Trust the biggest jerk Anaheim Ducks fans know.

Update 11:40 PM: Sportsnet's Doug MacLean says that the Wings won't appeal the suspensions, but he also claims that the Wings supposedly "knew of the consequences ahead of time."

Update 12:20 AM: MLive.com's own Ansar Khan updated his story, and there aren't enough words to say, They didn't know until it was too damn late anyway!

January 26, MLive.com: The Red Wings said, contrary to reports, there is no appeal process. It's cut and dry. They will not play tomorrow. Technically, it's not a suspension, as they will be paid. It's simply the NHL enforcing an understanding it and the league's general managers agreed to last February, that a player must miss either the game preceding or following the All-Star game if he elects not to play in the All-Star game.

Lidstrom, who's been battling tendinitis in his right elbow for some time, said he didn't find out until Friday that he could have avoided the ban if he would have showed in Montreal for the off-ice part of it. But he said it didn't matter. He still wouldn't have showed up because he needed to stay home and get treatment for his elbow.

"I knew it would happen, but I decided what's best for the team and myself is to try to heal up, because we're not getting any breaks this long before the end of the season,'' Lidstrom said. "This was the only chance to see if this problem would go away.''

Datsyuk said he wasn't aware this loophole either -- that's how Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby avoided a one-game ban. Datsyuk said he's not sure if his strained hip flexor would have allowed him to play Tuesday anyway.

Both players practiced Monday, though Datsyuk did not participate in sprint drills.

"I think the players did the right thing to help their team. I support them fully in their decision,'' Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

These guys didn't find out until hours before they were supposed to show up. What are you going to do, say, "Oh, I'm sorry, wife/kids, and I'm sorry, doctor I'm supposed to see to get treatment for chronic injury, I've gotta go?"

Now I'm angry again, and this is just absolutely, positively ridiculous--and disgusting--that Bettman made this a rule at the last second.

There's no point in arguing with Red Wings fans because we've got long memories, and we're going to hold this grudge against an "understanding" becoming a "rule" when the right "examples" come along.